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Like in real life, staying on your feet during combat inDungeons & Dragonsis a good idea. That said, there are situations when falling to the ground can’t be avoided (sadly, also like in real life.) When knocked to the ground in combat, your D&D character is in the prone condition.
Falling prone doesn’t mean you’re out of the fight entirely, but it can put you at a tactical disadvantage for a while. This condition affects everything from movement to attack rolls. Falling prone can put you in a serious jam—especially if enemies surround you. Let’s investigate the prone condition in D&D.
What Is The Prone Condition?
Proneis aninteresting conditionin D&D combat that simulates the consequences of falling to the ground. There arethree main componentsto the prone condition:
The last rule is what makes prone an interesting tactical choice.Ranged classesand Spellcasterswanting to keep their distance from enemies may find utility for the prone mechanic.
A rogue archer, for example, couldattack on their turnand thendrop pronetominimizedamage fromreturning enemy fire. On their next turn, they can stand up, fire, and fall back to prone in a single turn (as long as they don’t need to move anywhere).
How Do Creatures Become Prone?
A character or creature can fall prone in several ways. You canshovean enemy as your attack if it’s no more than one size larger than you. (For characters with multiple attacks, a shove constitutes a single attack.)
You make aStrength(Athletics)checkcontested by thecreature’s Strength(Athletics) orDexterity(Acrobatics). If the enemy fails the check, they fall prone or are knocked back five feet (you should state what you intend before rolling).
Spells likeTasha’s Hideous Laughter,Thunderous Smite, andEarth Tremor(to name a few) can knock enemies prone.
Likewise, abilities like the Battle Master’sTrip Attackor the Monk’sOpen Hand Techniquecan knock enemies to the ground.Druidswho attack inwolfform have a chance to knock enemies prone, too.
Why Knock A Creature Prone?
Knocking an enemy prone at the right time in the initiative order can achieve a few things. First, it caninterrupt magic usersconcentrating on a spell or about to cast one. Second, knocking an enemyprone can givemembers ofyour partyanadvantageon their nextattackson the target (depending on the initiative order and their proximity to the enemy).
If your character has theExtra Attacksfeature, you can use yourfirst attackto knock the targetprone. If successful,subsequent attackshaveadvantage.
Thirdly, once a creature is in theprone condition, you’re able to useGrappleto drop itsmovement speed to zero. This means the creature can’t stand up on its turn, limiting its options and debuffing its next round of actions.
Flying creaturescan also beknocked prone, though you might have difficulty shoving them. FighterBattle Masterscan use theirTrip Attackwith abowto knock flying enemies prone. The creature will likely take fall damage as it plummets from the air.
Why Choose To Go Prone?
Unlike most other conditions in D&D, prone has some tactical utility. If enemies attack you from range,dropping proneimposesdisadvantageon theirattack rolls. Going prone has no associated movement cost, unlike standing back up again.
The mechanics of prone mean spellcasters and ranged characters can go prone at the end of their turn tolimit returning firefrom enemies. Sure, it’ll cost them half their movement speed to stand back up at the start of their next turn, but this is often worth it.
As a DM, you canpreventyourplayersfromexploitingthe benefits of theproneconditionby charging melee enemiesat them once they’re prone.
No one wants to be on the ground when there’s an enemy within five feet, especially if that enemy tries to grapple with them at every opportunity.
